Work

Making listening visible: listening as an embodied dimension of mathematics teacher noticing

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Research on classroom interactions in mathematics education has shown how discourse, participation, and power shape learning opportunities and the nature of mathematical activity itself. A central strand of this work examines teacher noticing as a key practice of responsive teaching. While research continues to advance embodied and ecological perspectives on teacher noticing, the auditory dimension of how teachers use their bodies, space, and movement to listen remains undertheorized. This paper examines teacher listening as a dimension of embodied teacher noticing through an exploratory case study of a mathematics teacher. We integrate conversation and interaction analysis with embodied and spatial methods to examine how teachers’ embodied movements and spatial positioning reflect listening practices. Our analysis proposes a framework of three different listening modes— observational , concentrated , and conversational —each defined by distinct spatial and attentional patterns that reflect how teachers shift and manage auditory attention within their broader noticing practice. We illustrate how this framework extends embodied and ecological perspectives on teacher noticing, offering new conceptual and methodological tools for understanding responsive teaching and how teachers make themselves available to students’ mathematical thinking.

Source: Educational Studies in Mathematics

DOI: 10.1007/s10649-026-10555-9

Authors: Elizabeth Metts, Ben Rydal Shapiro

Institutions: Idaho State University, Georgia State University

Language: English

Topic: Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,390